Pages

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

Today is a happy yet sad day. Happy: It's the release of the last book in Demons of Oblivion series by Skyla Dawn Cameron. Sad: It's the release of the LAST Book in Demons of Oblivion series by Skyla Dawn Cameron. Always a bit of bitter sweetness there in those words.

I'm excited to share about the book and have this guest post by Skyla.

Please give a warm welcome to Skyla!

It’s the End of the World as We Know It (and I feel...okayish?)

Today has been a very long time coming: it’s the release of the final Demons of Oblivion novel.

The first book in this series was written throughout 2004 and 2005. I was a very young writer, had just signed my first contract for another book (River) when Zara Lain tapped me on the shoulder and I dove into her story head-first. Immediately after I typed the epilogue of Bloodlines, the rest of the series and full five-book arc bloomed in my head: I’ve known for over a decade where this final book would end.

I often mourn books when I finish them. After typing the last words of a zero draft, I still feel the story buzzing under my skin. Sometimes I’ll go back and reread a few sections, other times I’ll dive into the sequel’s first couple of chapters. After living and breathing a story for so long, it’s very difficult to let go, and I even miss the books that are the hardest to write. So it was expected I’d mourn Oblivion as well once it was done, especially because I’ve lived with these characters in my head for so long.

I didn’t feel any of the things I expected to. There’s been no mourning, no stages of grief.

First and foremost, I was relieved.

As frustrating as it is for readers to wait for books in a series (and believe me, I know), it’s a nightmare for writers. Four years have passed between the release of the fourth book (Exhumed, July 2012) and the fifth (Oblivion, August 2016). It has plagued me all this time, and I felt guilty every time I had to backburner it. I also nearly didn’t finish it, because the entire process of writing it was so difficult. The tremendous pressure I felt—to not only close out the series but do the characters justice and provide closure for readers—was staggering.

It’s also difficult for me to mourn something that isn’t actually over. Yes, this is unequivocally the last published book: the cost of publishing isn’t worth the few sales since this is how I make my living, and illegal distribution of the books killed any chance of resurrecting publication plans. But the stories aren’t over: my head is filled to the brim with the next arc of books, and I’ve already started the sixth. Oblivion is the end of the arc—it’s by no means the end of the story. The surviving characters haven’t stopped talking, haven’t gone anywhere—I know how their journey continues.

I haven’t said goodbye to anyone and I probably never will even if the other books are never written—they’re a part of me. But at least I know there’s a satisfying conclusion, that it’s finally off my plate for good, and I can move on to publishing other work.

It also wouldn’t exist without the readers I knew I owed some closure, or the Patrons of Snark who support me every month. The people who have been waiting years for this book, patiently and without demands, nagged on my conscience and pushed me to keep at the book. I am incredibly grateful to Melissa and my other readers for their devotion to these stories. You are few but you are mighty.

The end of a series is bittersweet, there’s no doubt. There’ll always be part of me that wishes things had turned out differently and that more stories with these characters would see the light of day. But ultimately I got to tell a complete story and share it with the most amazing readers in the world, and that means more than any “what if” I could imagine.

I’d like to take a moment to sincerely thank Melissa of My World for everything she’s done for me and these books. She does so much work, tirelessly supporting me, promoting the books, telling friends, beta-ing...I can’t even begin to express my gratitude. I am so honored to have had her on this journey with me, for her unwavering belief in the books, and for inviting me back here today to see the series close.

I feel like writing Oblivion I went through the same apocalypse the characters did. I’m exhausted, bone-weary, and grateful to have survived. And like them, I wouldn’t’ve gotten this far without friends. So thank you, Mel.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OblivionEarthquakes. Plagues. Rivers of blood. The ever-so-popular rain of toads. When end of the world fare is on the rise, it’s well past business as usual in a city where the veil between dimensions is thin. Quarter-demon Persephone Takata isn’t so keen on killing herself anymore. This time when death approaches, she’s ready to take a stand and fight to protect the woman she loves, along with everyone around them as the apocalypse swings into full force. Meanwhile, trapped in her home dimension where her antichrist father’s rule is weakening, Mishka Thiering’s hopes for revenge on the living are put on hold when she stumbles across the truth the Court has kept hidden for centuries. Her death was the last piece of the puzzle, leading to a change in the dimensional landscape, affecting humans and demons alike. Despite its fractured numbers, the shadowy organization who has kept tabs on Peri and Mishka for years is still very much in the game, ready to set into motion their final plan. For there is something much, much worse waiting in the wings—something old, something powerful, and something far more terrifying than Oblivion or any of the creatures it’s spawned. Alliances, betrayals, casualties. This is war. And only one sister can win.

Her early storytelling days were spent acting out strange horror/fairy tales with the help of her many dolls, and little has changed except that she now keeps those stories on paper. She signed her first book contract at age twenty-one for River, a unique werewolf tale, which was released to critical and reader praise alike and won her the 2007 EPPIE Award for Best Fantasy. She now has multiple series on the go to keep her busy, which is great for her short attention span. She is also a proud Writer of Unlikable Female Characters™.

Skyla is a fifth generation crazy cat lady who lives in southern Ontario, where she writes full time, works as a freelance designer, stabs people with double pointed knitting needles, is an avid gamer, and watches Buffy reruns. If she ever becomes a grownup, she wants to run her own Irish pub, as well as become world dictator.

Top 5 Reads:

Grab My Button!

I'm a blogger who:

_

Wednesday Post Hosted From Here: Who? What? Where?

Click to link your post to the latest one.

Thursday Post Hosted From Here: Throwback Thursday

Click to see the posts & link to the latest one.

About Me:

I'm happily married with a son, working through the day undercover as a book keeper in the mundane paper shuffling. But by night I enjoy journeying through fantasy worlds created by others and of my own. I read Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Dystopian, some Science Fiction, Paranormal and all in YA as well.

Finished...Review to Follow.

Finished...Review to Follow:

Finished...Review to Follow:

Finished...Review to Follow:

Click to learn more on Amazon.

Latest Thoughts Posted:

Click to go to thoughts on this story.

Overall Thoughts Posted:

Click to go to Review.

Quotes from Books, which caught my eye...

"It's always Ragnarok. Regular mortals have the power to blow the world sky-high and all the major supernatural factions can do the same. The thing is, though, as long as people want to live then you're going to have people stepping in the way of those who want to do something to blow us up. That's the only way you can endure it."Ben Talbot, By C.T. Phipps in Esoterrorism

"Be that as it may, we were--and no doubt, still are--held under scrutiny, with that whole Phoenix Society brouhaha. It is imperative we remain on our best behaviour, a feat that you did not exactly manage effortlessly with your shenanigans in Edinburgh." Wellington Books, By Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris in The Jaus Affair

"Remember this always: the fly, even in paradise, must always exist on shit."By Frances Pauli from The Fly in Paradise

"'In hundreds of years,' she continued, voice darker and sober now, 'I've only let myself love two people. You don't have that kind of time, though. You're mortal. You don't get to make a lot of mistakes before you kick it and if you wait, you get screwed over.'"By Skyla Dawn Cameron from Hunter

"...But I don't want you to be afraid to take risks. If it's worth it...If the person in his eyes is the person you want to be, the person you know you could be...then don't be scared..."By Nicole Peeler from Tracking the Tempest

"We are what we choose to be, girl," she said. "Let others determine your worth, and you've already lost, because no one wants people worth more than themselves..."By Peter V. Brett from The Warded Man.

"There are no honorable causes. There is no good or evil. Evil is only what we call those who oppose us."By Michael J. Sullivan from Nyphron Rising.

"That we are both right. One truth doesn't refute another. Truth doesn't lie in the object, but in how we see it."By Michael J. Sullivan from Nyphron Rising..

"Death is real, irreversible, and awful. Do you want some advice? Don't wait until you're dead to try to communicate. Do it now. You still have a chance. Not a great one, but a better one than you will have. If you think it's hard to get your point across now, and that no one really understands what you're about, just try it when you're dead." By Alexander Jablokov from Brain Thief.

"I wasn't running now so much as stumbling quickly, panting like a geriatric lion." By Nicole Peeler from Tempest Rising.

"Watch for the ones who leave your mouth hanging open. Study them, find out what they love and what they fear. Dig the treasure out of their soul and hold it to the light." He leaned in even closer now, so that Neb could smell the wine on his breath. "Then Be like them."By Ken Scholes from Lemantation.

The truth, the Seventeenth Gospel said, is a seed planted in a field of stones beneath a stone and guarded by snakes. To have at it, be strong enough to move the stone, patient enough to dig the hole and fast enough to dodge the viper's fang.By Ken Scholes from Lamentation.

I took a deep breath, "I took the nahlrout because I didn't want to faint. I needed to let them know they couldn't hurt me. I've learned that the best way to stay safe is to make your enemies think you can't be hurt." It sounded ugly to say it so starkly, but it was the truth. I looked at him defiantly.By Patrick Rothfuss from The Name of the Wind.

"We can be strong in the face of kings and priest, my lady," Ashe replied, "but to live is to have worries and uncertainties. Keep them inside, and they will destroy you for certain-leaving behind a person so callused that emotion can find no root in his heart."By Brandon Sanderson from Elantris.